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City Of Saugatuck Will Continue Studying Options On All Types Of Advertisement Signage

July 30th, 2015 | By Efrain Sandoval

The City of Saugatuck will more than likely not ban advertisement on cars or “traveling advertising,” but officials will continue studying their options for some possible regulations as some locals and visitors do not like being inadvertent targets of ads. “Everybody seems to be doing it, Xfinity, Coors Beer, and others,” announced Saugatuck Mayor Pro Tem Christine Peterson during Monday’s council meeting of the recent issue taken up by the city’s Planning Commission. Peterson, who is the city council representative on the Planning Commission, said that colleagues are well aware of how sticky the issue could get, particularly against the backdrop of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down a town sign ordinance in the State of Arizona, arguing it was violating free speech rights protected under the First Amendment. “The discussion has been focused on people using cars as advertisement signs and billboards and (having these cars) parking in public spaces,” she said. Planners are looking at ways the City of Douglas handles such manners, particularly that city’s list of prohibited signs as it relates to vehicles. However, Douglas officials have reported they, too, have been “thrown a curveball” regarding the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which they say does impact they way local municipalities across the country will go about regulating all signage. The Supreme Court ruling came down just as Douglas was getting ready to overhaul and update its signage ordinances. Now Douglas leaders say they will wait and see how other municipalities address signage, so as to then borrow and re-appropriate a model for Douglas’ own rules and regulations. Douglas’ current sign ordinance reads, in part: “Signs utilizing vehicles, trucks, vans or other wheeled devices, or tripod or sandwich board signs, (are not permitted) unless such signs are used for periods of less than seven consecutive days in any 90-day period or unless such signs have been approved by the Zoning Administrator as meeting a special purpose need and/or as being appropriate for the particular use.” Saugatuck may take the same approach. “We could, instead of limiting signs, address it as a parking issue—where they could park and limit the time they could park in any one spot. But we usually don’t have that problem,” said Peterson.